Marketing Archives - The NOW Gen

Video in Digital Platforms from Char Alfonzo’s Creative Perspective

January 9, 2023

In today’s age, digital platforms are one of the most used ways to consume video. This trend has pushed brand marketing to move toward becoming entertainment channels for their consumers. In this episode, the VP of Global Creative from Fresh, Char Alfonzo, talks to us about his take on digital platforms, marketing campaigns, sustainability, and customer-centric branding. His experience in the beauty industry and creative digital marketing allows him to see the consumer’s needs and figure out the best way to approach them with impactful storytelling. He also tells us about his work at Fresh and how the luxury of self-care can be a sustainable indulgence.

Guest

Char Alfonzo

KEY POINTS:

His background in the creative industry: from marketing to the beauty industry.
Fresh’s sustainable indulgence.
The internet’s impact on the NOW Gen’s way to consume video.
Telling impactful stories with a 360-degree angle.
Instant convenience and core brand values move customers.
Brands are turning into entertainment platforms.

RELEVANT QUOTES:

“I’m more of the creative guy. Let’s just say that. I lead the team into thinking 360. So, how do we tell beautiful stories? How do we engage with consumers? How do we tell all of the DNA of the brand? Fresh is a beautiful brand, and we have beautiful stories to tell.”

“Fresh has beautiful, sustainable efforts on not just how we extract our ingredients, but how we respectfully do it, and how we ensure that the local communities that we work with are also part of that.”

“Millennials and Gen Z are just far too smart right now. Claims and benefits are just, you know, they’re not fooled by them. They’re also predicting the information they’re going after is really where the secret sauce is.”

“Taking care of yourself, it’s now the ultimate, ultimate luxury. And it’s, you know, affordable and it’s available for everybody. So, you know, a brand like Fresh that it’s, you know, we’re a brand of indulgence, and we can take this in the two different ways. You know, it’s also the indulgence of using the product, right? And also the taking the time how we prep them as well. You know, we take time to do what we do here.”

“I mean, we live in an entertainment-first world now, and brands now are turning into entertainment platforms, you know? I think the future is gonna be kind of like that. No, I think the brands will turn into little tiny Netflix, little tiny Hulus, just kinda entertaining consumers on what their product delivers, really expanding that universe and the lifestyle that they’re trying to push.”

“This generation cares about what brands’ values are, and what their missions are, what they stand for. And we’re not shy about it. You know we don’t have to be shy about it. We should not be shy about it.”

“It’s a really interesting world. We are all the future entertainment entertainers. We are all the future influencers. We live in a world where we’re moving into micro-influencing. I don’t think we’re ready. I don’t think we’re ready to see how grandmas will be influencing us on recipes and on ingredients. The world is shifting and shifting fast.”

“Brands are relying more on content creators now to facilitate that speed that is necessary right now to be engaging with consumers constantly.”

“People also wanna see themselves; they wanna see a mirror on their mobile devices. And, you know, and the mobile devices, it’s really where 60% of consumers are interacting with their mobile platform.”

“It’s the same way that we’ve been approaching advertising for a very long time. The difference now is that the message and the visual need just to be more digestible, where people, our brains, are on overdrive.”

“So come from a place of entertainment, escapism is huge right now. People want just to get away. People just wanna a break from reality for a second.”

Alicia Enciso’s Relentless Transformation is the Mindset that will Keep Brands Relevant

Itzel Rincon

December 5, 2022

Brands are constantly working to be relevant for their ideal customers. Older and younger brands are trying to be on trend for the NOW generation. In this episode, guest Alicia Enciso, CMO at Nestlé USA, gives us her takes on what makes a brand remain relevant while bringing new ideas to the table. Her experience has made her one of Brand Innovator’s Top 100 Women, among other recognitions. Listen to her episode to learn more about Nestlé’s innovation.

Guest

Alicia Enciso

KEY POINTS:

From Brand Manager, growing business, to becoming CMO of Nestlé USA.
#RelentlessTransformation, her way of leading transformation in her team.
Innovation crucial for an effective growth strategy.
Being consumer obsessed to better understand and connect with them.
Brands are propelled by purpose, is what they live by.
From advertising to engagement, changing the way we approach customers.
Continuos transformation will help your brand remain relevant.

RELEVANT QUOTES:

“Being innovative is, is absolutely part of our, our growth strategy. And I think that it is being innovative about the transformation.”

“Any innovation that we do, be it in terms of products or be it in terms of our capabilities we call it, is absolutely consumer obsessed. What we’re aiming to do, of course, is to really understand and connect with our consumers.”

“ It is not only about your physical health, but as you know, well, it is also about your emotional health. It has become much more important to think about both together and even at a, at a global level or, or, you know, or a broader way. It’s not only about physical and emotional, but it is also about the planet, right?”

“ Making sure that we’re taking sustainable or making sustainable choices that will ensure the health of ourselves, our communities, and the planet.”

“We’re very ambitious about what we wanna achieve in terms of digital transformation and e-commerce over again during, within this, let’s say 10 years that I’ve been on the job, um, I have that the privilege of during three years leading our e-business organization.”

“Expect us to be with very strong foundations, very strong brand, but definitely leaning in into, again, relentlessly transforming to make sure that we are you know, meeting our consumers in the best possible way.”

“What I think is really also exciting as is that, again, why the hashtag is relentless transformations, because you never end. You never end, you know, we, for example, at the beginning, we created a huge digital agency ecosystem that they would do, you know, creative for the different platforms.”

“I would tell you in terms of content, we’re definitely moving from what we call advertising to engagement. I would say, including the consumer, we are engaging with the consumer, and we are co-creating them anyway.”

“And each platform requires very different kind of, I would say customization for the content and also in terms of retail. So when we go into winning in retail, the type of content that we have, and, and there are so many ways in which you can or you need to be present in, in, in, in, in retail or for consumers to be able to shop you, um, that I think it is, it is definitely creating a lot more expertise that is needed, um, and, and tons of, as you can imagine, innovation learning, you know, testing.”

“We are very ambitious in terms of sustainability. Um, and again, our our sustainability promise, of course, is primarily in the area of, you know, what we would say is regenerative agriculture.”

“In terms of packaging, we have an objective and also in, in terms of 2025, in which we want all of our packaging to be fully recyclable.”

“ I think that when you are obsessed of where the consumer wishes to go or wants to go, many times, even if you can articulate it, um, of course that is what ensures that you, you know, that you are bringing it to, to the marketplace and relentlessly transforming so that you continue to, you know, to be their choice now and in the future.”

“The more, again, that we lean in to driving what I would call cultural relevancy for our brand is disproportionately important in order for us to, again, to continue to market to the next gen, right? So again, it is about ha you know, hashtag relentless transformation, and it is about hashtag consumer obsession, right? The more that you obsess with what they, they really care about what matters to them you will continue to be very relevant.”

How Marissa Solis Scores The Perfect Strategies For A Renowned Brand On A Global Scale

Itzel Rincon

November 4, 2022

Are you a sports fan? If so, this is the episode for you. If you are not an NFL fan, you’ll probably be one after you listen to this episode. Our guest is Marissa Solis, SVP of Global Brand and Consumer Marketing for the NFL. Marissa’s inspiring background and experience are a testament to her success. Listen along to learn more about her takes on marketing, consumer engagement, brand evolution, and cultural representation. We don’t want to spoil it, so give it a listen, it will for sure be a “touchdown” episode.

Guest

Marissa Solis

KEY POINTS:

From politics to CPGs to the NFL.
Taking advantage of the opportunities presented to you.
Remember where you came from, and honor it.
The challenges of a renowned brand on a global scale.
Know what your brand stands for, always.
Change for your consumers, meet them halfway.
Brand evolution is key for success.

RELEVANT QUOTES:

“The challenge is how do you take this massive brand that everybody recognizes, everybody has an opinion on by the way, and make it amenable and approachable and likable by everyone, young and old alike.”

“When you think about the NFL brand, it, it truly is a reflection of America. When you think about our fan range, our fan base really covers a wide variety of demographics of interest. It’s a reflection of America.”

“When you think about the NFL and we’ve talked about this, um, you know, I think timeless, we are, we are unifiers, we bring people together.”

“So how do you make sure that timelessness comes through today? That’s the challenge of any brand. Marrying that timelessness with the timely and doing it right. I think is the key to success.”

“At the end of the day, we are all consumers. And as a marketer, you have to remember that. And it’s hard because you can’t bring your own bias right to the table. You have to leave your bias at the door.”

Digital Business as a Powerful Growth Engine

Itzel Rincon

November 30, 2021

Have you wondered what goes into the wire transfer industry? In this episode, we talk with Francisco Tejeda, VP of Digital Business at Intermex, Wire Transfer, about using digitalization to connect with people and make business efficient. His previous experience also prepared him for the customers’ required speed for his current company. Get ready to hear an honest, human-centered, leader who encourages the NOW Generation to enjoy what we are doing and look forward to growing where we are. Francisco’s insights are remarkable, and his experience backs him up.

Guest

Francisco Tejeda

KEY POINTS:

Wire transfers are a global industry
Helping connect customers with their loved ones
Making consumers the priority of your business
Advance technology and digitalization are key to growing a multinational business
Enjoy what you’re doing, life is important.

RELEVANT QUOTES:

“The biggest market for money transferring in the world, it’s actually from the U.S. to Mexico. That is actually the biggest market. So for us, it’s also super, super important and very relevant because we are the largest brand that sends money to Mexico.”

“And we really respect and try to help as much as we can these consumers because again, they’re our heroes and they’re helping their communities are helping their families. And we try to know as much as we can about them to really help them and treat them with respect and treat them with the quality they deserve to send their money via our stores or retail stores, or via online or app or web as well.”

“When we’re talking about consumers, in Hershey particularly we have we had a category of products, which we call instant consumables, you know, so that is an interesting choice of words because we also have packaged candy. In package candy, you typically go to a supermarket, you buy a bag of kisses, whatever you take it home, and you consume that every day or every two days or whatever, you consume it afterward, but instant consumables are single-size chocolates or candy that are typically in the front end, in the checkout.”

“And there is a high percentage of them that are going to, they’re going to buy it because they like to have it at the moment. So that’s instant gratification, for sure. Like the very definition of instant gratification.”

“So technology is very important because if technology assigned to, for you to wait five days to deliver the money, then the digital technology is not up to these times. And the consumer needs you, technology needs to be aligned on the side to send the money now.”

“Life is important for you just enjoying what you’re doing, if you want to grow, like in my case, focus on that and think about that and think how you can grow within your company or search or the opportunities or whatever. But, my advice would be to understand yourself, understand your stress threshold, and what you want to do because everything has a cost.”

Marketing

Guest

Char Alfonzo

Alicia Enciso’s Relentless Transformation is the Mindset that will Keep Brands Relevant

Guest

Alicia Enciso

KEY POINTS:

RELEVANT QUOTES:

How Marissa Solis Scores The Perfect Strategies For A Renowned Brand On A Global Scale

Guest

Marissa Solis

KEY POINTS:

RELEVANT QUOTES:

Digital Business as a Powerful Growth Engine

Guest

Francisco Tejeda

KEY POINTS:

RELEVANT QUOTES:

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